Main Entry: ¹crawl

Pronunciation: \ˈkrȯl\

Function: verb

Etymology: Middle English, from Old Norse krafla

Date: 14th century

intransitive verb 1 : to move slowly in a prone position without or as if without the use of limbs <the snake crawled into its hole>
2 : to move or progress slowly or laboriously <traffic crawls along at 10 miles an hour>
3 : to advance by guile or servility <crawling into favor by toadying to his boss>
4 : to spread by extending stems or tendrils <a crawling vine>
5 a : to be alive or swarming with or as if with creeping things <a kitchen crawling with ants> b : to have the sensation of insects creeping over one <the story made her flesh crawl>
6 : to fail to stay evenly spread —used of paint, varnish, or glazetransitive verb 1 : to move upon in or as if in a creeping manner <all the creatures that crawl the earth>
2 : to reprove harshly <they got no good right to crawl me for what I wrote — Marjorie K. Rawlings>